Hey guys, I have an old WG P228 that's been used somewhat extensively as a shooter. I originally bought it as a red plastic box refurbished gun. At the time it was evident that it had neither been carried much nor shot much. It has lots of "patina" now . I was thinking of giving it new life by having the whole thing refinished, with satin electroless nickel being my new finish of choice. Among the reasons are trying a new look that I like, that is not overly costly. Anyway, I am usually not one to like refinished guns. I'd never knowingly buy one, nor sell one without advertising the fact, but this gun isn't an investment piece. Just a quality piece that I'm attached to and shoot quite a bit.

So, I have some questions for you guys about the refinish.


1. Who should I go to for the best looking finish? I do not know about the actual process of electroless nickel plating. Thus, I do not know if it looks the same regardless of who does it. Ideally, I want it to look exactly as a factory nickel P228 would have looked back in the day. For this reason I was set on sending it to Klein, since they did it for Sig originally. Unfortunately, I was informed by Klein themselves that they no longer deal in firearms . I know of Robar and CCR, and I am considering CCR for their lower price. Anyone else I should know about or consider?


2. A recent thread started by our resident P228 expert, 12131, on the other Sig Sauer forum brought up some concerns for me. Certain refurbished sigs show very clear signs of having been refinished, despite sig claiming that they don't do it. This may have been the case with mine. The frame looks so much more gray than the black I am accustomed to on these guns. Even if I somehow confirm that it has been refinished, it opens the possibility of how many times it has been refinished, which I could never know for sure. Slide to frame fit is excellent, and any play is proportional to the amount of use the gun has seen, IMO. I recently posted in another thread that I believe that stripping the anodizing doesn't take off a substantial amount of metal as some people believe, which I think I am right about. Obviously, multiple refinishing jobs could be detrimental. So, slide to frame fit as it is now, I'd rate it as a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being factory tight, 1 being rattling like a snake. Would you be worried?


3. Yea or nay? Just curious as to your thoughts about whether you'd personally have one of your own guns refinished or not. What would you do and why?



Thanks for taking the time to read this. I really appreciate it.

I just saw an article that Robar NP3 is still the best in terms of durability. However I had a P228 refinished by WE Birdsongs years ago that was beautiful. Utilitarian for sure, but isn’t that what P228 really is?

CCR does great work. They would be able to address any of your concerns with the process and it sounds like their CPII is what you are looking for. Check out their website too as they have a 25% off sale going in until March 31st!

I have had multiple guns done by CCR, they do a great job. Just add a new parts kit, sights and if you want new grips. My last gun I drop shipped all the parts to them, gun turned out great.

Just give them a call tomorrow, the times that I have called Mary always answers the phone.

I’ve used CCR numerous times, good to go!

Big plus 1 for CCR. All that they have done for me has turned out A+++.

1- Klein no longer does firearms.
2- CCR will not do any plating on alloy frame.
3- Robar will EN plate the entire gun, whether alloy or steel frame.

CCR is first class. And another first class dude here on SF is CoyoteKiller. He has moly coated a couple guns for and they look great!

CCR magic on my beater P228.

I will see if I can find a before picture.




Found one. Before pic

I have had several guns refinished and regretted doing so to every one of them. I’ve decided not to spend money to reduce the value of any more of them.

Many people, myself included, would rather have a gun with honest wear to original finish, over a refinished gun.

YMMV

Chowser, what finishes were applied to the frame, slide, and controls on the 228?

This is our CPII/Nikote

CPII/Nikote

The Glock has a CPII slide.

I had CCR do CPII on the frame of my Colt GC and I really like it. It tightened things up a bit and is very easy to keep clean.

I've had Robar do two pistols. One in NP3+ and the other in Roguard. Both have held up to years of abuse.

leave it alone.